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Mario Andretti crashes during qualifying at Mosport 1967.

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Eddie Sachs crashes out of the 1963 Indy 500 in his Watson-Offy, a year later he would lose his life in a firey crash.

[Barton Farley]

Jeff Clinton...Homestead-Miami 2002

Grand Am Driver Dies During Practice At Homestead
March 2, 2002|By Richard Biebrich Staff Writer

HOMESTEAD — Grand Am driver Jeff Clinton died Friday while practicing on the Homestead-Miami Speedway road course when his open-cockpit Lola became airborne and landed upside down, snapping the roll bars.
Clinton, 38, of St. Louis, Mo., lost control of his car as he came down the front straight and entered Turn 1 of the 2.21-mile road course, and came to rest between Turns 1 and 2 of the oval. Clinton was preparing for today's Rolex Sports Car Nextel 250.
Miami-Dade County and the Grand American Road Racing Association officials are investigating the cause of Clinton's accident, and Homestead police impounded the open cockpit Sports Racing Prototype II-class car.
Police also sealed off the garage of Archangel Racing, Clinton's team, as a crime scene, which kept several other teams from accessing their garages.
Jim Baumann of Homestead was sitting outside of the oval's Turn 1 when the accident occurred, and said Clinton's car launched into the air, nose first.
"It looked like it slightly went sideways first," Baumann said. "I can't say for sure. It went up on its tail, fell over and slid upside down the whole way, upside down through the gravel pits, up the hill and onto the oval."
A track worker in the area of the crash, who asked not to be identified, said the car launched like a rocket, 20 to 30 feet in the air. As it flipped and landed upside down, it shattered the rollover bars that protect the driver in an open cockpit, then slid 100 or so feet before coming to a stop.
The accident, which occurred at 12:18 p.m., stopped all activity on the track and canceled practice for today's Indy Racing League's Grand Prix of Miami.
The track, which would normally be buzzing with engine noise, was silent until Anthony Lazzaro's Chevrolet-powered Dallara Indy car fired up and roared around the oval at 3:31 p.m. to begin qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix.
Shortly after the IRL cars had left the track, the Grand Am cars came out for their final practice. With not enough time left to qualify cars for the 34 spots on the grid, the Nextel field was instead set by point standings.
Baumann said two cars had spun earlier at that spot, but were able to turn themselves around and continue practicing.
Justin Bell, also driving an Archangel-prepared SRP II Nissan-Lola, was ahead of Clinton and did not see the crash, but admitted having trouble at that spot earlier.
"It's a very tricky place when the wind changes," said Bell, who operates a performance driving school at Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm Beach. "To be honest, it almost caught me out and I think it just caught him out.
"I have to say, I felt the same thing. If the cars pull the wrong way, you're in trouble. But that's at any race track. It's a sport that demands everything to go right for you, like every sport, really."
The Homestead-Miami Speedway consists of a 1.5-mile oval track and a 2.21-mile road course, which snakes its way through the interior of the track but uses several areas of the oval, including the front straight. Drivers power down the straight and enter the road course just before the Turn 1 of the oval.
Thursday, Terry Borcheller's SRP II car also ran into trouble, then the wall, at that spot entering the road course.
"It just went through the turn, up the ground and straight into [oval] Turn 1," said Tim Parrish of Sunrise.
Borcheller had clocked the fastest time of the Thursday's afternoon practice when he lost control of his Rand Racing/Risi Competizione Lola entering the road course, drove across the infield grass and hit the oval's wall. Borcheller exited the car without injury.
The member of a prominent St. Louis family, Clinton was president and Chief Executive Officer of Grey Eagle Distributors Inc., a large distributor of Anheiser-Busch products.
Grey Eagle spokesman Jim Hubbard said Clinton was a part-time driver.
Clinton's father, Jerry, headed St. Louis' unsuccessful effort to land an NFL expansion team in the early 1990s. Jerry Clinton also was a SCCA Trans Am Series driver and passed along that love to his son.
"Jeff had been racing for 10, 15 years maybe," said Archangel team owner Michael Johnson, also a St. Louis native. "This was his fifth race with us."
Jeff Clinton had planned to compete full-time in the Grand Am series this season, 10 races.
"He was a great driver and a great guy," Johnson said. "This [situation] never crosses your mind. You never anticipate it."
Clinton was one of two drivers for the car. Johnson was unsure whether Jeff Tillman, of Lake Ozark, Mo., would race or stand down.
"We don't know," Johnson said. "We're going to let this day end and make a decision from there."
Clinton's is the first fatality in the three-year-old series, based in Daytona Beach. It is the second death at the track; John Nemechek died due to injuries sustained in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1997.

April 5,2002 Jeff Clinton Autopsy Report Released...
Grand Am driver Jeff Clinton died from blunt head and neck injuries when he crashed during practice for a race last month at Homestead-Miami Speedway, an autopsy report said.
His car veered off the course as he entered Turn 1 and flipped repeatedly. His head was severed at the base of the skull, according to the report by Miami-Dade County Associate Medical Examiner Mark Shuman.
Clinton was wearing a head-and-neck restraint, which is voluntary for Grand Am drivers, but his roll bar ``broke away'' as the car rolled, said Grand Am spokesman Patrick Murphy.
Murphy said it was extremely unusual for the roll bar, which is intended to protect the driver when the car flips, to break.

[Barton Farley]

Tim Bergmeister...Japan Super GT Fuji 2012

[Barton Farley]

John Surtees Mosport 1965

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A rare photo of the aftermath of British driver Mike Spence's fatal practice crash at the Indy 500 1968. Mike's Lotus 56 gas turbine hit the wall at the first turn and the front right wheel flicked up into the cockpit inflicting fatal head injuries.

Spence took part in 37 F1 races scoring 27 points, with a best result of 3rd in 1965. He won two non-championship F1 races and the 1967 BOAC 500 sportscar race at Brands Hatch.

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These photos clearly show the huge damage to Gilles Villenuve's Ferrari 126C2 after colliding with Jochen Mass's March in practice at the Zolder track in 1982. Gilles died of his injuries after being ejected from the car.

There are a lot of Villeneuve photos in this thread hopefully these are new.

[Fred Rubble]

Car - piss ??

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Some more photos of Didier Pironi's career ending crash in practice for the German GP in 1982. Also a photo of the damage to Prost's Renault that Didier hit in the heavy rain.

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Emerson Fittipaldi crashed after his suspension collapsed during practice for the Swedish GP 1977.